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All schools must allow ‘gay-straight alliances’ under new anti-bullying bill

Ontario’s anti-bullying bill has been toughened with a new provision forcing schools to call clubs “gay-straight alliances” if students wish.

The change of heart on the minority Liberal government’s Accepting Schools Act was announced by Education Minister Laurel Broten. (COLIN PERKEL / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILE PHOTO)

By Rob Ferguson and Robert BenzieQueen’s Park Bureau

Fri., May 25, 2012

All schools — including those in the Catholic system — won’t be able to stop students from calling anti-homophobia clubs “ gay-straight alliances” if dramatic changes to a proposed anti-bullying law are passed.

The change of heart on the minority Liberal government’s Accepting Schools Act, which gave schools a veto on names for any student club, was announced Friday by Education Minister Laurel Broten at a student conference.

“Let’s remember these are student clubs and student voices matter in the naming of a student club,” Broten told reporters.

The move, which has the support of the NDP, comes as an amendment to the government’s anti-bullying bill — which she hopes to pass before the legislature is slated to rise for its summer break June 7.

A student activist in Mississauga was thrilled.

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“Our school forced a name on us,” said Leanne Iskander of St. Joseph Secondary School, where the self-described queer is a member of the “Open Arms Club” that members hope to re-name.

“They shouldn’t be able to censor our identity.”

Broten said she’s “not going to speculate” whether the change could lead to a court challenge from Catholic groups opposed to mentioning gays in the legislation, but noted the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association supports her amendment.

Catholic officials declined comment Friday, saying Cardinal Tom Collins, president of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario, will make a statement Monday.

A group called Campaign Life Catholics issued a statement calling the amendment “dictatorial.”

Broten’s change follows legislative committee hearings on the controversial bill, which has been a flashpoint since it was proposed following the suicides of two students last year — one gay and another with muscular dystrophy.

In a bid to curb bullying, the original bill required school boards to support student groups for “people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, including organizations with the name gay-straight alliance or another name.”

That language gave Catholic schools an escape clause when it came to naming anti-bullying clubs.

Progressive Conservatives and many parents and religious leaders have urged the government to remove any reference to gays, lesbians, bisexual or transgendered students in the bill, saying the mention infers a special status not available to other children who might be victims of bullying.

The Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association has pushed Premier Dalton McGuinty — a Catholic whose wife, Terri, teaches in the Catholic system — to have any new student groups called “Respecting Differences” clubs.

In a 12-page missive on the issue last winter, the trustees did not once mention the word “gay.” The association did not return calls from the Star on Friday.

But proponents argue that allowing a principal, for example, to refuse to allow an anti-homophobia club to be called a “gay-straight alliance” is a form of oppression inappropriate under the spirit of the bill.

Broten maintains gay students have been more prone to bullying, which is why they get specific mention.

“If we can’t name it, we can’t address it and we must address it,” she said, evading questions on whether the amendment is intended as a message to the Catholic Church that its influence on publicly funded education is limited.

“I don’t think I’m going to go into that type of analysis at this point.”

The amendment was applauded by the Ontario Gay-Straight Alliance Coalition as a step forward for human rights, which had said students were entitled to name their own clubs under the Charter of Rights.

Coalition lawyer Douglas Elliott said he doesn’t believe the change is a “death knell” for taxpayer support of Catholic schools but sends a strong signal that “Catholic schools are public schools subject to public regulation.”

Broten’s change comes just days after Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner reaffirmed his support for one public school system. On Twitter, Schreiner said his party “applauds” the amendment.

The Conservatives have proposed their own anti-bullying law, which is also under study by a legislative committee, without mention of sexual orientation.

New Democrat MPP Peter Tabuns (Toronto—Danforth) said his party pushed the minority Liberals into doing the right thing with the amendment.

“People have to keep in mind there are a lot of young, gay Catholics,” he said.

Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod said she was “pretty disappointed” by the Liberal changes.

“The whole process has been flawed from beginning to end,” said MacLeod, adding the government has ignored what “70 to 90 per cent” of deputants told the travelling legislative hearings.

“Public hearings into this bill were a sham,” she said.

“This is a serious issue. If they get this wrong, which I think they have — the consequences are far greater than just winning a vote in the legislative assembly.”

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